First, it was invasive river rats- now, Texas is plagued with yet another invasive species; the Chinese mystery snail!

This invasive mystery snail is causing concerns for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and officials are warning residents of Texas not to dump them out! The Chinese Mystery Snail is typically sold for aquariums, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. And we all know what happens when some of our finned pals get too big; people tend to dump them out into lakes or the ocean.

But, you definitely don't want to do that in this case!

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources they are called "mystery" snails because females give birth to young, fully-developed snails that suddenly and "mysteriously" appear. These snails are wild!

Officials with TPWD are asking residents to never dump their tanks as they can compete with native snails and species in rivers and lakes in Texas. The snails graze on lake and river bottom material. Their lifetime is about four years and they can die off in large numbers and wash up on shores. Which is what happened in Oregon a couple of years ago!

So just what exactly are you supposed to do if you see these invasive critters? If you see them in state parks, TPWD asks for you to take a picture and send it to aquaticinvasives@tpwd.texas.gov. Include specific location information. Once the identity is confirmed, the TPWD invasives team will notify the state park.